RUM PUPPY Wins J/105s
(Annapolis, MD)- Annapolis Race Week has been held on the Chesapeake Bay over Labor Day weekend for more than four decades. Organized by the Chesapeake Bay Yacht Racing Association, the popular three-day regatta has become a local tradition - albeit solely within the local sailing community. “People around Annapolis that didn’t own a sailboat or weren’t competing had no idea when Annapolis Race Week was held or what it was all about,” said Bobby Frey, former CBYRA president and on-water regatta chairman.
CBYRA officials believe the 44th annual Annapolis Race Week will greatly increase awareness among average Annapolitans that a major sailing event is being held in their midst. Headquarters for Annapolis Race Week have been moved to City Dock and that increased visibility should benefit both the city and the regatta. “For the first time in its history, Annapolis Race Week is really going to be part of Annapolis,” Frey said. “If you go to the race weeks in Key West and Charleston, the city is a big part of the charm. I think this move has the potential to be a really positive thing for both the city of Annapolis and CBYRA.”
Annapolis Race Week has always been a top-notch operation on the water and this year will be no different with upwards of 160 boats expected to compete in 18 classes. There was tremendous participation from the J contingent with solid turnouts from the J/105, J/80, J/24, J/35 and J/30 fleets! Nearly half the fleet!
In the fifteen boat J/105 fleet, Jack Biddle's RUM PUPPY simply took off and seemingly never looked back, rattling off a 1-2-1-4-1-2-3 series to win by 11 points over the second place team of Carl and Scott Gitchell sailing TENACIOUS. Third was Chris and Carolyn Groobey's JAVA just five points back. Seems that a bit of practice aboard the J/100 TERN in the Downeast Race Week cruise helped Chris' speed on downwind gybing angles!
The J/35s had a great turnout with twelves boats from all over Chesapeake Bay. Bill Wildner's MR BILL'S WILD RIDE also dominated their class, winning a few too many races and getting a fantastic record of 3-1-4-1-1-1-1 to win by 16 points! Ouch, hurts to get spanked soooo bad! In second was Peter Scheidt on MAGGIE and in third was Charles Kohlerman on MEDICINE MAN.
The J/80s were in great competitive form amongst their seventeen boat fleet. A number of teams attending the J/80 North Americans in Buzzards Bay and also headed to the J/80 Worlds were using it as a tune-up regatta. Ultimately, Allen Terhune on 221 won by an astonishing 25 points over his fellow competitors! A sign of things to come in the NA's and Worlds? We wonder. Allen had seven firsts and a fifth. OMG, perhaps this was a worse spanking than competitors received in the J/35 class? Lessons learned perhaps for some. Lying in a tie for second was Dan Witting on EMOTIONAL RESCUE and John White on 1162, with the tie broken in favor of EMOTIONAL RESCUE.
The seven boat J/24 fleet was incredibly competitive amongst the top three. Just two points separated all of them at the conclusion of the regatta. Just squeezing ahead of the cluster was Pete Kassal on SPACEMAN SPIFF, second was MILLENIUM FALCON and third was Brent Ellwood's SANE ASYLUM.
Incredibly (and kudos to them all), the J/30 class had a fantastic turnout with nine boats going for the gold. Gotta love these passionate owners having a ball with "son of J/24" (the J/30 was the 2nd boat J/Boats ever built). So many of these boats have been reconditioned, many of them look nearly new! Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello on BEPOP bopped everyone over their heads and took the gold with four firsts in their score, winning by ten points. The battle for second was going to the final heat between four boats and the last two races proved to be a topsy-turvy affair. Falling just shy of throwing it all away and hanging in there by their chinny-chin-chin was Larry Christy's BIG KAHUNA team getting second with a thundering 6-5 for their last two races. Yikes. Breathing down their necks were Ron Anderson sailing INSATIABLE, Bob Putnam skippering BETTER MOUSETRAP and George Watson racing AVITA, finishing 3rd, 4th, and 5th, respectively. For more Annapolis Race Week sailing results
Sailing Photo Credits- Tim Wilkes
CBYRA officials believe the 44th annual Annapolis Race Week will greatly increase awareness among average Annapolitans that a major sailing event is being held in their midst. Headquarters for Annapolis Race Week have been moved to City Dock and that increased visibility should benefit both the city and the regatta. “For the first time in its history, Annapolis Race Week is really going to be part of Annapolis,” Frey said. “If you go to the race weeks in Key West and Charleston, the city is a big part of the charm. I think this move has the potential to be a really positive thing for both the city of Annapolis and CBYRA.”
Annapolis Race Week has always been a top-notch operation on the water and this year will be no different with upwards of 160 boats expected to compete in 18 classes. There was tremendous participation from the J contingent with solid turnouts from the J/105, J/80, J/24, J/35 and J/30 fleets! Nearly half the fleet!
In the fifteen boat J/105 fleet, Jack Biddle's RUM PUPPY simply took off and seemingly never looked back, rattling off a 1-2-1-4-1-2-3 series to win by 11 points over the second place team of Carl and Scott Gitchell sailing TENACIOUS. Third was Chris and Carolyn Groobey's JAVA just five points back. Seems that a bit of practice aboard the J/100 TERN in the Downeast Race Week cruise helped Chris' speed on downwind gybing angles!The J/35s had a great turnout with twelves boats from all over Chesapeake Bay. Bill Wildner's MR BILL'S WILD RIDE also dominated their class, winning a few too many races and getting a fantastic record of 3-1-4-1-1-1-1 to win by 16 points! Ouch, hurts to get spanked soooo bad! In second was Peter Scheidt on MAGGIE and in third was Charles Kohlerman on MEDICINE MAN.
The J/80s were in great competitive form amongst their seventeen boat fleet. A number of teams attending the J/80 North Americans in Buzzards Bay and also headed to the J/80 Worlds were using it as a tune-up regatta. Ultimately, Allen Terhune on 221 won by an astonishing 25 points over his fellow competitors! A sign of things to come in the NA's and Worlds? We wonder. Allen had seven firsts and a fifth. OMG, perhaps this was a worse spanking than competitors received in the J/35 class? Lessons learned perhaps for some. Lying in a tie for second was Dan Witting on EMOTIONAL RESCUE and John White on 1162, with the tie broken in favor of EMOTIONAL RESCUE.
The seven boat J/24 fleet was incredibly competitive amongst the top three. Just two points separated all of them at the conclusion of the regatta. Just squeezing ahead of the cluster was Pete Kassal on SPACEMAN SPIFF, second was MILLENIUM FALCON and third was Brent Ellwood's SANE ASYLUM.
Incredibly (and kudos to them all), the J/30 class had a fantastic turnout with nine boats going for the gold. Gotta love these passionate owners having a ball with "son of J/24" (the J/30 was the 2nd boat J/Boats ever built). So many of these boats have been reconditioned, many of them look nearly new! Bob Rutsch and Mike Costello on BEPOP bopped everyone over their heads and took the gold with four firsts in their score, winning by ten points. The battle for second was going to the final heat between four boats and the last two races proved to be a topsy-turvy affair. Falling just shy of throwing it all away and hanging in there by their chinny-chin-chin was Larry Christy's BIG KAHUNA team getting second with a thundering 6-5 for their last two races. Yikes. Breathing down their necks were Ron Anderson sailing INSATIABLE, Bob Putnam skippering BETTER MOUSETRAP and George Watson racing AVITA, finishing 3rd, 4th, and 5th, respectively. For more Annapolis Race Week sailing results
Sailing Photo Credits- Tim Wilkes
